Interlude: Credibility, Titles, and Talent
I recently read that health care professionals spend only an average of 1 minute 38 seconds reading a medical publication. If adults read about 250 words per minute, then 1 minute 38 seconds is only enough time to read a little more than the average 250-word abstract.
Although these health care professionals were likely reading the abstracts for relevance, I've met several researchers who will cite a publication after reading only the abstract. I find this practice unsettling.
I believe that as a researcher or professional writer, you need to read the full text before you consider citing it. You need to think critically about the study and whether you endorse or refute the findings. For example, do you believe the methods were sound? And do you agree with the authors' conclusions?
I also believe that any article you cite reflects on your work and on you. If you cite a publication, you are endorsing (or sometimes refuting) that research in writing. That's an important reflection on your credibility—and the credibility of science and medicine.
What do you think about the practice of citing a publication after only reading the abstract?
Now onto this week's round-up...
💌 Round-up
👓 Reading
Content and form of original research articles in general major medical journals
"In conclusion, title content differed substantially between the five major medical journals BMJ, JAMA, Lancet, NEJM and PLOS....We recommend that authors study titles of articles recently published in their target journal when formulating the manuscript title."
Reminding Peer Reviewers of Reporting Guideline Items to Improve Completeness in Published Articles
“…giving peer reviewers an additional task by emailing them a reminder of the 10 most important and poorly reported reporting items did not improve the reporting completeness in published articles. We therefore encourage journals to implement other interventions that have proven to be efficient in other trials (ie, hiring expert reviewers for adherence to reporting guidelines) to increase the reporting completeness in published articles.”
🖥️ Watching
Brain Hack: 6 secrets to learning faster, backed by neuroscience
In this TEDx talk, Dr. Lila Landowski explains six critical ingredients that you can use to help you learn faster: attention, alertness, sleep, repetition, breaks, and mistakes. She also shares how talent mostly comes down to practice, perseverance, and when someone starts learning a skill (the earlier the better).
💬 Quote
"Writing is one of the only ways to outlive yourself. People still read books from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The author's physical life ended long ago, but their mental life remains alive and meaningful even today.” —James Clear
📝 Challenge
Go to the website of your favorite journal and read the table of contents in the latest edition. Do you think the authors could have crafted stronger manuscript titles?
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
